Poppy's 16x16 timber frame cabin

[poppy]

Here's the next installment of pics.  Not a whole lot of activity over the winter, except to finish the gates, and do some more work on the driveway.  Here are some photos of a not so normal spring of '08.

This is an unusual snow for anytime in SW Ohio, but expecially so late.  My little truck almost got buried in front of the condo.  My wife and my sports car get the garage.



This is the photo that I used for the pic. posting test and now post it here in sequence.  The timber came from the first standing dead oak that I harvested below the pond.  I got one saw cut accomplished with the chainsaw mill before the saw burnt up.  I used my smaller chain saw to make vertical cuts and then followed up with the broad ax and draw knife for this hewed side.  Unless I find a better tree later, this 6x8 timber will be the main cross tie on the north gable end.


Spring '08 has been the most beautiful on the farm so far.  The first time the redbud and dogwood bloomed at the same time.




This is pretty dark, but you may be able to make out the shape of this oak that I selected for a cruck frame on the south gable end.  This is one of the few live trees that is slated to go into the construction.  I took some more photos of that tree recently, which I will include later.  I'm kind of anal when it comes to chronology.

[Don_P]

Poppy,
This is a good read on English cruck frames if you haven't seen it, you'll need to click "i agree" when the first screen pops up and then it will go to the table of contents.
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/cba/rr42.cfm?CFID=2185347&CFTOKEN=94238388
Ken Hume's website has some good pics of a cruck frame they did as well.

[poppy]

Don, you are the man!    I thought I had found everything on crucks that was on the net, but not so.

For others, the Ken Hume site is http://www.kfhume.freeserve.co.uk/

Again, thanks Don and even though I said I am anal about the sequence of photos for this build, here is my current vision for the south wall using a cruck timber frame.


The round window is on Craig's List, but I haven't bought it yet.

[Bishopknight]

Very cool poppy. I bet it looks awesome when you're done!

Keep the pics coming!

[poppy]

So '08 was a very frustrating year when it came to making progress on the cabin.  The year started out weird with the late snow fall, then the beautiful spring, then very limited success with the chainsaw mill, then rain, rain, rain, and more rain.  I am reposting the Oct. '07 photo where you saw the beginnings of the fireplace foundation hole.

Originally, I wanted the fireplace on the north wall and started a hole at that location, and if you look closely you can see that shallow hole to the left of the bigger hole and just off the right of the NW pier.  Then my lovely wife came to visit so that she could record a mental picture of what my vision was.  I explained what would be along the north wall and her first response was that I was blocking too much of the view, and she was right.

So I rethought the whole thing and moved the fireplace, rotated it 90^o and moved it towards the SE corner keeping it away from both walls.  Even though the typical stone fireplace is on an outside wall with the chimmney on the outside of the wall; that doesn't make for an efficient wood burner.  Another reason for moving it away from the wall makes the chimmney shorter above the roof and therefore more of it inside for heat retention.

Another change was to still build a stone Rumford but just up to the mantel level and then run naked stove pipe to the ceiling, again to retain more heat as well as cut down on the total weight to save a little on the foundation.  So the next photo shows the results and note the date (11 months had elapsed before I was doing serious forming.


Working alone and manually digging the hole in between rain storms made the progress very slow.  Just when I thought I had it done and even covered up, it would rain and I would have a bathtub.  I had to trench down slope to keep the water flowing out of the hole, but then it would still get wet enough to soften a couple of inches of clay and I would have to go deeper to get to undisturbed soil.  The hole ended up at least 12" deeper than really needed.


Here I am set up and ready to pour.


This is the down slope end of the foundation and if you look closely you can see that the hole is deeper on that end.  The primary foundation is 8" thick with 1/2" rebar and this deeper end is 16" deep, again to get down to undisturbed soil.


The pour complete with rebar anchors for the corners where concrete block would be laid.  The next installment will complete my effort on this first location for the cabin.

Here is the teaser: remember the wet spring?  Even though the cabin site was on a crown with only the uphill side sloping towards the foot print, a stream of water developed almost dead center right above the foundation.  There was no hint of a ground water problem previously.  Secondly, remember the Kentucky dude who quickly put up a house on piers during the summer and fall of '08 and didn't brace the piers?  Hold that thought until next time.

[glenn kangiser]

Interesting seeing the shrinkage cracks in the sidewalls of your excavation, poppy.  I am in porphyry clay here but it is a hard mineral clay and you have to work at it to get it to take water.

[poppy]

Yes Glenn, our clay takes on water and is expansive.  When it got really dry in the summer of '07, the surface cracks in some places opened up to over a half inch wide.  That's why it is so critical to get down to undisturbed soil and then find a way to keep it dry.

For a post/pier design here, freeze/thaw is not as much of an issue as wet clay.  That's another hint that adds to the reasons for moving the cabin site.

[poppy]

So now to close out 2008 in the continuing saga of Poppy's timber frame cabin.


Here I have set up to start the concrete block work on the fireplace foundation.  I used my wife's car for some reason that I can't remember.


Got the first course laid and this, my friends and fellow builders, is the last photo of '08 and close to the end of construction on this particular site.  I did get 2 more courses laid before winter set in, but didn't photo document it because I was waiting for further progress which never happened.  My next post will try to explain why and where the second cabin site was selected and this one abandoned.  But first here's the start of '09 which in some ways was worse than '08.


This could be the last photo of the original cabin site.  This was after a snow and ice storm that dropped about 12" of the white stuff, which is unusual for this part of the country.  You can guage the depth by the concrete piers which protrude 12" above grade.


The tree (a hickory, I think) closest to the cabin north side that sustained ice damage.  I told my wife that it was a sign from God that this was not the perfect site for the cabin.  There was a lot of other ice damage to maples and cedars and pines also.  I'll have some of those photos in a later post.


More ice damage, this time to my porch.  I should have known better than leave it out, but on an earlier visit it was so cold that I didn't want to roll it up.  Oh well, lesson learned.  So began 2009.

[rdzone]

Boy Poppy, 

I have hewed a number of logs, but never on horses up in the air.  That  must have been a chore.  I put the logs up on some blocks close to the ground and use the broad axe while standing on top of the log.  Your arms must have been tired!

Keep the pictures and story coming I am really enjoying your thread. 

[poppy]

I just realized that I double posted one photo, so I have corrected that on the previous post.

Chuck, You are absolutely correct about the proper hewing technique, but I have excuses.  Firstly, the only broad ax I have so far is the one I'm using in the photo and it is a broad hatchet really; the handle is not nearly long enough to stand over the log.

Secondly, I wasn't intending to do any hewing that early in the frame making.  I was just frustrated that my chainsaw blew up and I wanted to see some kind of progress.

And yea, my friend, my arms were tired.

[poppy]

OK, on to phase 2 or alternate plan or whatever makes sense to call it.  But first, in my Land Stories thread "My land search saga for future cabin" I posted photos from the first fall on the land and mentioned at the start of that thread that this was my second piece of property.  The story of the first piece of property is long and boring, but I did learn some things not to do.  The following might help a few out there who are still looking for land.

Originally I figured I could buy land fairly close to Cincinnati and it still be my definition of country property.  I thought I hit the jackpot with a 6 acre wooded partial on a dead end gravel Township road that had underground utilities.  It was beautiful, quiet, and was to be the site of our future retirement home. It met most of my criteria, but failed in some significant ways.

1.  It was split off from a larger partial and had no direct access to the road.  The seller owned the other half and had the road access, but it required a bridge across the creek which she had built.  This created a couple of problems:
    a. I needed an easement across her land.
    b. We had to set up a bridge maintenance fund together.
    c. We had to set up another escrow account to cover the cost of running utilities across the creek on her land.

2.  It cost so much ($10,000 an acre) that when added to the other accounts that required funding, I was left in debt, rather than having money to begin any kind of construction.

3.  It had a number of restrictions too dumb to list, but prevented us from building a small cabin and some other things.

4.  And the coup-de-grace (sp), a property line dispute caused my title insurance co. to pay a neighbor $15,000 plus attorney fees to make the problem go away.

So we decided to sell and find property that had direct access to a public road, had no restrictions, and cost a whole lot less.  In the meantime I took a part-time job back in my home county, we decided that a country home for retirement wasn't going to work, and my cash position improved.  All of this was over a span of about 6 years.

So the new plan became finding a piece of property back home where I grew up and building a cabin for week end use, mostly for me alone.  So my Land Stories thread showed the result of the second search.  And the following quote is from the end of that thread:

Well those are the photos from the first fall.  The property is in Adams county, Ohio about 2.5 miles outside a small town; a little less than 10 acres, mostly wooded, deeper than wide, surrounded by larger farms; on a blacktop township road; no zoning; no restrictions. 

Public water is 1000 feet away so is not practical; I was able to get the electric service turned back on to the old house after I put in a new circuit breaker box.  I ran an extension cord to the trailer and even had a TV signal until they went digital.

I spent the fall and winter scouting for cabin sites and inspecting trees for potential timber.  The previous owner had sold off the larger hardwoods and cedar, but left some pretty big oaks and maples.  There is also a variety of hickory, some nut bearing.  The loggers left some of the felled cedar for some reason and they will make good porch posts.

So far I have only cut dead trees for timber; oak and hickory so far, and have about a half dozen standing dead that will come down this fall and winter.  That's all for now

So perhaps in keeping with failing with the first piece of property, I failed with the first cabin site on the new land.  This build thread has taken us so far, through a saga of over 2 years of planning and almost completing a cabin foundation.  The next installment, including pics., will attempt to explain why the first site and design failed and the new site and design works so much better.

[Whitlock]

Hand hewn timbers and a cruck frame d*Your even crazyer than I am
I LIKE IT 

You have your work cut out for you on this one how fun!

   W

[poppy]

Hand hewn timbers and a cruck frame d*Your even crazyer than I am 
I LIKE IT 

You have your work cut out for you on this one how fun!

   W

That's the best compliment I've gotten on this board.     I've always liked being unique and different (I'm a red-headed left-hander) so being called crazy fits just fine.

Speaking of being unique an different, don't listen to those other guys about the metal brackets.  I really appreciate your independence and love the quote "when in doubt make is stout with what you know about."

Keep up the fine work.

[PEG688]

Speaking of being unique an different, don't listen to those other guys about the metal brackets. 

Yo Poppy it was just a  comment.

   I really appreciate your independence and love the quote

    "when in doubt make is stout with what you know about."

  Glad you liked it,  Whitty's  read my tag line , have you 

So who ya gonna listen to     

 

[poppy]

Glad you liked it,  Whitty's  read my tag line , have you 

Sorry Peg, I am a member of a number of boards, and I almost never read tag lines.  To me, they are like bumper stickers that are trying to tell me something that I don't necessarily want to know.   Having said that and now having read your tag line, I like it; but that's not going to motivate me to read anyone's tag line in the future.

So who ya gonna listen to 

I'll listen to you or anyone else on this board, and will take whatever comments are made in the spirit that they were made.

If the truth be known, I was going to comment on those brackets that W used, because I had the same thought as some of you-all, and it's something that I would not use in my timber frame.  Since I was beaten to the punch and then read W's answer, I understood where he was coming from and just wanted to show some support.

I meant no disrespect to anyone and being a kidder, it is sometimes hard to convey what comments really mean.  Such is the bain of communication on the WWW.

[Whitlock]

Darn metal brackets i don't know why they have to make so much trouble

Poppy as for hand hewn I once made a 16"x30"x30' beam for a museum out of a sugar pine, what a job that was.
Took me all of two days. So I know what it is like to do it.
I can't weight to see your progress.

I don't know if this will help you or if you need to peel any logs?
I leaned a easy way to debark a log from a old timer awhile back.
Dig a ditch to put the log in and use the scraper or blade on your tractor to peel it.
Worked good for me on cedar might not work as good on other woods but it is wroth a try

[poppy]

I don't know if this will help you or if you need to peel any logs?
I leaned a easy way to debark a log from a old timer awhile back.
Dig a ditch to put the log in and use the scraper or blade on your tractor to peel it.

Funny that you brought up this because I was peeling a log today.  I will keep the old timer's suggestion in mind, but so far since I have been harvesting standing dead, the bark pretty much just falls off with a little help form the az.

I will be cutting a large live oak sometime this summer for my cruck so I might have to try something like that.  Oh wait, that tree is anything but straight; not so sure the ditch method will work.

Likely I will let the freshly cut tree dry a little before debarking, but it would mill easier green.   Oh well, I'll figure it out with a little help from my friends here.

[poppy]

Just a quick update and short introduction to the new cabin site and the start of "Poppy's Pin Pier Plan."

First a couple of spring '09 pics to wet the appetite:


My newly dead corkscrew willow and another bush that I don't know the species of.  The large pines in the background are along the road and were planted as a WPA project, I think.  I know they are not native to this part of Adams County.

For you historials out there, the road past my land roughly follows the old Zane's Trace up from Kentucky.


The same trees viewed from the opposite direction with the outhouse and largest walnut trees in the background.  If you look closely you can see one of the neighbor's barns.

What follows is a photo previously posted about an oak stump removal next to the farm road/driveway about 250 ft. from the road and half way to the original cabin site.


The large maple tree at the left center defines the intersection of two farm roads.  Behind the tree down to the left is the barn, and veering to the right is the road back to the first cabin site near the other end of the pond.

I found the "perfect" site just off camera to the left between the stump and the barn.   If anyone is interested I can give a detailed list of why the first site was not so perfect and the new site is.


The first of many pics at the new site starting at the NE corner as any good Free Mason would.  This shows one pin in and the second one in position and the other two at the ready.  This is my own design using 1 1/2" sch. 40 galv. pipe.  I can give more detail on the background of the design if anyone is interested.

That's all for now.  Dale

[secordpd]

Are you pounding the pins in then pouring a concrete base around them?  Are you using a cap on the pipes while pounding?  I can't wait to see more pix.   You really have a beautiful piece of land there Poppy....

[poppy]

Are you pounding the pins in then pouring a concrete base around them?  Are you using a cap on the pipes while pounding?  I can't wait to see more pix.   You really have a beautiful piece of land there Poppy....

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, there will be a concrete base.  Originally the plan was to use a 1' section of 12" Sonotube, but it doesn't provide enough clearance around the pipes.  So I have constructed forms 1'x1'x1' and after placing some rebar to help tie the pipes together will pour all four caps in one process. (BTW, larger Sonotubes are really expensive)

By cap, if you mean on the bottom end, then no; the end was left open.  Interestingly, the soil compresses about 12" inside the pipe.
If by cap you mean on the top for driving, then yes.  The photo shows what I used for the first few after the first one; it's a section of 2" pipe with a slice of bar welded on.

The first pipe was driven using a cast iron threaded pipe cap, but that disintegrated during the drive, which I expected.  I actually went through about 5 itterations of driving sleeves during the whole process.

[Redoverfarm]

5 gallon drywall buckets with the bottom's cut out will give you about 18" of heigth and 12" diam. 

[poppy]

John, maybe you misunderstood my pier clearance problem.   12" diameter is not big enough so the 1' sq. form gives me about 16" across the corners. 

Thanks for the suggestion anyway, maybe someone else can benefit.

[poppy]

Another installment.  I am gradually catching up to present day, and then posting will sloooooow down, since this is a one-old-man show.


Three pins in and the 4th almost home; photo looking west. 

Another observation, partly based on the sapling in the upper left leaning up hill plus the trough and crown shape of the soil; I think this is an example of soil creep.  There is little or no history of landslides on natural slopes in this part of the country, so I was surprised to see this, if that is what it is.

Here is another pic. looking east.


If it is soil creep, I don't think it is anything to be concerned about.  The slope is only about 2 in 12 and there is no soil erosion until you get to about 300-400 ft. down the hill.  Plus none of the large trees have the tell-tell sign of leaning down hill from creep and then bending vertically as it grows.

Until next time.

[poppy]

On to the NW pier after some more site clearing.


This is an early morning shot so you can see how the sun hits in the a.m.  This was also after some pretty good rain which I mention because wet conditions don't stop the pin placement process.  You can see the old house and "new" trailer in the background.


NW pier pins in.  I did have to slop around in the rain & mud a little on this one.  And good ole duct tape used to cover the ends.


A shot looking west at about mid-morning.  The stakes along the right loosely define the north side of the cabin.  That maple is a little close. 


Just another pic. showing the upper half of the gate across the new driveway and also showing some of my ditch digging efforts from the first spring.  Across the road is a neighbor on about an acre that used to be a part of my land, but was split off before I bought it.  He is a bigger junk collector than I, so if I don't have it, he usually does.

[Don_P]

Maybe you've been over it, what keeps frost from lifting these when you pour over them?